IP VCR gatekeeper registration behavior

This is a summary of the gatekeeper registration behavior on the IP VCR. It also explains how you can use a gatekeeper for load balancing.

Choice of registered IDs

With the exception of point-to-point prefixes (which are explained below), gatekeeper usage starts with configuring unique Numeric IDs for individual stored recordings and for folders. For each folder you can configure an Auto attendant ID, Recording ID and Recording console ID (together called folders IDs in this topic).

After configuring these IDs you can then:

choose on a per-recording basis whether to register that recording's numeric ID individually with the gatekeeper using the Numeric ID registration field

choose on a per-device basis whether to register folders' auto attendant, recording and recording console IDs individually with the gatekeeper using the Register folder IDs field

for all recording and folder IDs, choose whether to add a specified prefix to those IDs when registering them individually with the gatekeeper using the Prefix for IP VCR registrations field with use as prefix for registrations selected.

choose not to register recording or folder IDs individually with the gatekeeper but instead make them all available through one or more registered prefixes using the Prefix for IP VCR registrations field with register as a service prefix selected and the Play back prefix field. (With a prefix registered, then typically a gatekeeper will send all calls which start with the prefix to the device which registered the prefix)

You may need to use a prefix if:

you want more than 100 IDs (recording or folder IDs) to be available through the gatekeeper. (The IP VCR has a limit of 100 individual dial strings that it is able to register with its configured gatekeeper)

the number of IDs that you want to be available via the gatekeeper is less than 100 but more than the gatekeeper that you are using can support

you want to load balance recording or play back functionality across multiple IP VCRs which register the same prefix(es). In this case you should configure these IP VCRs so that they deregister those prefixes when all recording ports are in use. See Load balancing below.

You may not be able to use a prefix if: your gatekeeper does not support prefixes - not all gatekeepers offer this functionality.

Matching incoming called numbers

A call can reach the IP VCR with a called ID number when:

a user dials a number that the IP VCR has specifically registered with the gatekeeper

a user dials a number that starts with a prefix that the IP VCR has registered with the gatekeeper

a H.323 call is made directly to the IP VCR as a gateway and a subsidiary number is supplied.

When the IP VCR receives an incoming call involving a called ID, it decides what to do with the incoming call by following a number of rules in a specific order. If any of these rules provides a decision on what to do with the call, the process stops at that point and no further rules are tested. The rules in order are:

If the Prefix for IP VCR registrations has been configured and the called number starts with that prefix, then the IP VCR tries to match the rest of the called ID number (i.e. the part after the prefix) to a recording's Numeric ID or to one of the folder IDs.

If a Play back prefix has been configured and it matches the called number, then the IP VCR tries to match the rest of the called number (i.e. the part after the prefix) to a recording's Numeric ID.

The IP VCR tries to match the whole of the called number to a recording's Numeric ID or to one of the folder IDs.

The IP VCR tries to match the called number against a folder's configured Point to point call incoming prefix. In the event that more than one folder's Point to point call incoming prefix matches the called number, the IP VCR chooses the folder which gives the longest prefix match

The call is treated as a call to just the IP VCR's IP address and the configured Default incoming call action is followed.

Resulting action

If the above sequence results in a match against a recording's Numeric ID, then the recording is played back. If a folder's Auto attendant ID is matched, then the endpoint is connected to the auto attendant menu for that folder. If the call matches a folder's Recording ID or Recording console ID, the IP VCR starts a new recording in that folder (and starts up a recording console, if appropriate).

Which IDs are registered with the gatekeeper

Registering a recording's numeric ID

No individual registration will be made for a recording unless the H.323 gatekeeper checkbox in the Numeric ID registration field is selected. In addition, if the recording is external (i.e. not stored on the IP VCR's own disk but accessed through a link to an external NFS server) the folder's Register external recordings with gatekeeper setting must be selected as well as the recording's own H.323 gatekeeper setting.

If the unit-wide Prefix for IP VCR registrations has not been configured, the IP VCR will register just the recording's Numeric ID. However, if the Prefix for IP VCR registrations has been configured and use as prefix for registrations is selected, the IP VCR will prepend that prefix to the recording's Numeric ID before registering it with the gatekeeper.

No folder IDs will be registered with the gatekeeper unless the unit-wide Register folder IDs setting is selected. If it is selected, then all configured Auto attendant IDs, Recording IDs and Recording console IDs for all folders will be registered with the gatekeeper.

If the Prefix for IP VCR registrations has been configured and use as prefix for registrations selected for this field, then the IP VCR will prepend that prefix to all folders IDs before registering them with the gatekeeper.

Registering a folder's point-to-point prefixes

In normal operation, whenever a folder has a configured Point to point call incoming prefix, that prefix will be registered with the gatekeeper: there is no other unit-wide setting to enable or disable registration unlike the other folder IDs. However, see Load balancing below.

Load balancing

You can use prefixes to balance the load between a number of IP VCRs by registering them with the same prefixes and selecting the "deregister" options:

the Play back prefix will be deregistered if the Deregister play back prefix when all play back ports are in use setting is selected and all play back ports are in use

the Point to point call incoming prefix for all folders will be deregistered as will the Prefix for IP VCR registrations (if register as a service prefix is selected) if Deregister recording prefixes when all recording ports are in use is selected and all recording ports are in use.

When deregistration occurs, the gatekeeper will chose another IP VCR which is registered with the same prefix when a call comes in rather than rejecting it.

Configuration rules

One folder's Point to point incoming prefix can be the same as another folder's followed by some more digits; in this case the IP VCR will use the longest match to determine which folder to create a new point-to-point recording in. For example, if one folder uses the prefix "123" and another uses "1234", then calls to "12345" and "12346" will use the folder that registered "1234" and calls to "1235" and "1236" will use the folder associated with the prefix "123".

One folder's Point to point incoming prefix can be the same as a non-prefix ID; for example a recording can be registered as "1234" in addition to this being a folder's Point to point incoming prefix. In this case a call to "1234" will play back the recording, and a call to a number that starts with "1234" but has more than 4 digits will trigger a new point-to-point recording that will be stored in that folder.

A non-prefix ID can be the same as a folder's recording prefix plus some other digits. For example, you can have a recording registered as "1234" as well as a point to point incoming prefix "123" for a folder - the IP VCR always matches non-prefix IDs first; therefore a call to "1234" would go to the recording that had specifically registered this ID, whereas a call to "1235" or "1236" would start a point to point recording.

The following are not allowed:

2 identical non-prefix numeric IDs: all recordings' numeric IDs, folders' auto attendant, recording IDs and recording console IDs must be unique, and all must be different to the unit-wide H.323 ID

2 identical prefixes: all folders' Point to point incoming prefix must be unique and must all be different to the unit-wide Play back prefix and Prefix for IP VCR registrations (if register as a service prefix is selected)